Things I Love Thursday

• Christmastime--once I feel that it's here.
• Cold (dry) Oregon Decembers.
• When my children appreciate and enjoy their breakfast:

• Getting back into my routine at the gym and actually enjoying it.
• Being liberated from my own expectations regarding holiday cards--no, you're getting one--be ok with that; I am.
• Walking into Lulu's room and finding Avery pretending to be Lulu:

• Living with royalty:

• The smell of December: pine needles, cinnamon, baked goods, rain, coffee, fireplaces... 
• Looking at all of our random, mismatched, funky ornaments and taking a moment now and then to recall the memories that are attached to each one. Where did it come from? Who gave it to us or who made it for us? What was our life like the year we bought that one? 
• This set of stationary I made for Linda to give to Aunt Betty for her birthday... sorry if the surprise is ruined... I hope you've received it by now!

• Advent calendars
• White-haired people sporting santa hats while they go about their business during the day (however, if it weren't December I don't think this would make the list!).
• Having nice big packages arrive from UPS in preparation for the holidays.

• Anticipating the fun we'll have at Greg's company holiday party tomorrow night with all the great people he works with.
• The prospect of staying the night at the hotel after the Aerotek holiday party and more specifically, sleeping in until at least 10am!
• The ease of baking 7-layer bars with my girls (awesome recipe Aunt Tami!)...

• ... and watching those 3 batches fill up 16 tins for Greg's sales people:

• Linda's split pea soup. Seriously amazing stuff!
• Chai lattes
• Living with royalty... did I mention that already?

• Receiving all the wonderful holiday cards from our friends and family--I hope you'll keep sending them even though we all know that you'll not be getting one from us this year!
• Solving problems (thanks Simone). Someone you know likes getting naked and taking her diaper off any chance she gets... If you know our family at all, you are well-aware that we embrace nakedness; however, if you're not potty-trained then going diaper-less can be problematic. My friend Simone mentioned this little trick a long time ago. We never needed to institute it with Geneva... Avery has been a different child altogether (and of course we love her for that). Thank goodness it's December and not July because "footie-pajamas" are required for this "trick." Now if we could only prevent Piper from convincing Geneva to help her get unzipped...